Bull Nakano will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 40 weekend. The Japanese woman’s striking look and insane matches led to an iconic career across Japan, America, and Mexico.
Nakano’s influence is seen in the world’s current WWE superstars. Becky Lynch’s top rope dropkick is an homage to Nakano. AEW’s Saraya’s submission finisher is her Bull’s Angelito. Nia Jax’s sitdown reverse of a sunset flip and single-leg crab are both moves performed by Nakano.
Bull Nakano’s legendary face paint has been the cause for inspiration by wrestlers from Beth Phoenix to Masha Slamovich. Nakano took to X to share her delight at being the first Japanese female wrestler to enter the WWE Hall of Fame.
Here, we bring you Bull Nakano’s top matches from her Hall of Fame career within World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), and All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling (AJW).
Top Matches From Bull Nakano’s Hall of Fame Career
With Bull Nakano being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
Time to put up the worlds greatest Leg Drop 💯 pic.twitter.com/tk7MJsaY43
— Dark Puroresu Flowsion (@PuroresuFlow) March 6, 2024
The Match: Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong in a Cage Match for the WWWA World Championship at AJW Wrestlemarinepiad, Yokohama (11/14/90)
Nakano vs. Aja Kong is so extreme it’ll make Nick Gage’s eyes water. The match took place six years into Nakano’s wrestling career, which had begun in the AJW.
Nakano makes her entrance look like a dilophosaurus but is met by Kong on the ramp, who starts stabbing her in the head with scissors.
When inside the cage, the two trade power moves. Before, Kong literally hit 1,000 back elbows and busted Nakano open. A young wrestler chucks in a metal box, which Nakano belts across Kong’s face ten times until she collapses.
Nakano follows this up with a nunchuck attack. Wrestlers continue to lob weapons in the ring so that the women can beat each other. When there’s a lack of metal rods, scissors, chains, buckets, or rope for the women to use, they casually piledriver each other.
Eventually, Nakano hits a leg drop off the top of the cage. She pops straight up and climbs out of the cage for the win.
This move is so dramatic that I’m pretty sure this is when tech developers started working on GIFs.
Watch the match here.
What Next: Nakano continued to defend the championship in matches against Kong, Manami Toyota, and Monster Ripper. She held the gold for 1057 days until she lost it to Kong at AJW Dream Rush In Kawasaki in 1992.
Bull Nakano x Aja Kong. A 2013 Weekly Pro reader’s poll ranked this brutal steel cage classic as the #1 women’s wrestling match of all time (11.14.1990) 🌟 pic.twitter.com/0xON5tBq8E
— Vintage Puroresu プロレス (@vintagepuro) March 6, 2024
The Match: Bull Nakano vs. Lola Gonzalez in 2/3 Falls match for the CMLL World Women’s Championship, Mexico City, Mexico (12/6/1992)
Nakano went to Mexico, where she and Lola Gonzalez won a 12-woman battle royal. As a result, they competed for the inaugural CMLL World Women’s Championship. All CMLL World Women’s Championship matches are competed under best 2/3 falls.
Nakano struggled with Gonzalez’s speed and agility early on. Gonzalez scored the first pin with a moonsault.
Nakano hit a bodyslam, followed by a 450 top rope leg drop to score level. Gonzalez hit a top rope crossbody, but Nakano reversed to pin to score the final fall and win the championship.
What Next: Nakano held the title for 283 days, during which she was crowned the first-ever two-time champion; Bull defended it predominately in AJA in Japan. Nakano lost the title to Xochitl Hamada in 1993.
June 12 1992 and the Arena México witnessed the final of the tournament to crown the first ever #CMLL Women's Champion, two legends, 1 from México and 1 from Japan but united by the art of wrestling, Bull Nakano pick up the win to become champion #WWEHOFpic.twitter.com/frdXwkYEHR
— ERD Wrestling (@ERD_Wrestling) March 6, 2024
The Match: Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano in a WWF Women’s Championship match on AJA Big Egg Challenge, Tokyo Dome, Japan (11/20/94)
Nakano came to the WWF as part of a partnership with Luna Vachon. She unsuccessfully challenged Alundra Blayze at SummerSlam ’94. During this period, she wrestled Blayze on house shows at Madison Square Garden, New York; Wembley Arena, London; and the Olympic Hall, Munich.
Then, in November, the two met at the Tokyo Dome, Japan, in a WWF Women’s Championship match. Blayze arrived in a convoy of motorcycles carrying a USA flag. The Undertaker obviously held onto this image for ten years before he paid homage to it at WrestleMania 19.
Nakano and Blayze worked a clean match and showed the chemistry they’d built up during their house show tours. Late in the match, Nakano missed a top rope leg drop. Blayze hit a German suplex, but Nakano kicked out. Nakano hit her Bull’s Poseidon and top rope leg drop for the win.
Watch the full match here. picked
What Next: Highlights of the match were played during Survivor Series the next week. Nakano appeared on the PPV, but she refused to answer questions in English. She didn’t defend the title much and wasn’t on the card for WrestleMania 11.
The Match: Bull Nakano vs. Alundra Blayze in a WWF Women’s Championship match on WWF Monday Night Raw (4/3/95)
The night after WrestleMania, Nakano, and a returning Blayze gave us one of the greatest Raw After WrestleMania moments of all time.
Nakano and Blayze put on a show that put the main event of the previous night’s WrestleMania to shame. Nakano hit Blayze with the title before the bell. The two women then gave us an opening few minutes of heavy power moves interweaved with athletic feats. Multiple German suplexes, tosses and lariats, and an impressive head scissors takedown.
It was fast, exciting, and felt like the kind of bout that should have started a revolution.
Blayze dropkicked Nakano from the top rope to the outside and then leaped from the turnbuckle to join her. Nakano missed a dive through the ropes and got a German suplex on the floor as a receipt.
Back in the ring, Nakano missed a moonsault, and Blayze hit one more German suplex to take the title.
Watch the full match with an introduction from Becky Lynch here.
What Next: This was Nakano’s final WWF match, as she was released by the company for cocaine use.
The Match: Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto at WCW/ NJPW Collision in Korea (4/29/95)
Luckily, WCW was still hiring people who took drugs. Nakano spent her time in WCW competing against Blayze/ Madusa in a series of matches.
She also wrestled with WCW in front of 190,000 people as part of the WCW/ NJPW Collision in Korea event.
On night one, Nakano and Akira Hokuto defeated Manami Toyota and Mariko Yoshida in a tag team match when Nakano pinned Yoshida following a diving leg drop.
The next night, Nakano took on Hokuto. Nakano ragged dolled the smaller Hokuto around the ring before showing off with a Gorilla Press Slam. Nakano, well in control, attacked Hokuto with a pair of nunchucks.
This inspired a rally from Hokuto, who hit a German suplex. Things went back and forth. But when Nakano missed a 450 leg drop, Hokuto took advantage with a roll-up for the win.
Bull Nakano’s Hall of Fame Career Draws to a Close
Nakano called time on her wrestling career in 1996 to focus on being a professional golfer.
Like in the WWF, her final WCW match was against Alundra Blayze. Blayze will almost certainly stand across the ring from Nakano one last time and induct her into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Nakano made a few appearances here and there but has largely remained out of the spotlight.
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